Morning music

I was heading to bed but was listening to my Ipod, and that got me in the mood to listen to my piano songs. I love some of the pieces by Maksim Mrvica and Richard Clayderman. They always relax me. So after an hour I got up and Youtubed the videos. It’s been my goal to play many of Maksim’s and Richard’s pieces. So far I only got Mariage D’amour down. One day when I get around to it, I will record my rendition of that song and upload it.

But listening to their music and watching other people do piano covers to the pieces motivate me to practice more. Yes, I find inspiration in piano music and other pianists. Isn’t it a beautiful thing?

Earlier tonight I was at Olivia’s house with a couple of friends. We had a get together, although we didn’t get to talk much since she was being a good hostess and had to tend to other guests. It made me realize… this is the kind of people I want to surround myself with. They are caring, smart, not provincial, not ignorant, reserve, and true. Most of all, they are like me. Having been living in Austin for so long I hadn’t many chances to hang out with these people. After tonight I’m reminded how much better they are than the people I met in college. I’m grateful for family, good friends, and the ability to do what I enjoy doing in life.

P.S. Never heard of Mariage D’amour? Don’t miss out.

Mariage D\’amour

Another summer has come!

These past two semesters had been dreadful and tiring, though there were enjoyable times. Considering I’m graduating soon (next Spring, actually), I’ve been contemplating plans post graduation. I am interested in many things, but the problem is with committment.

I’ve made a list of goals to keep me on track –
This summer:
learn to drive my car already finished, edited 08.17.2010
get a job finished
take piano finished
knit and crochet all the projects I have in mind
read all those books I bought (actually, now that I think about it, this is impossible. Edited 08.17.2010)
learn how to cook

Starting this school year:
volunteer at a hospital
work…..
befriend my professors for recommendation letters
look into Clinical Laboratory Science program, and apply
get all A’s

On a different note, I just recently watched The Prince and Me and I fell in love… with the prince in the movie. Luke Mably… so talented.. so perfect.. Why doesn’t he make more movies? He deserves the leading role.

Pantene

I went to Big Lots today with the siblings and I stumbled upon Pantene Pro-V’s Fortifying Fortifier deep conditioner. I know, the name is a classic original and we all had a laugh and thought it was silly. But props to Pantene for coming up with a name that does its job — it catches people’s attention and is easy for consumers to remember. As for fortifying hair, I think it’s good too. It is deep conditioning, so you only apply it once a week. Hair is soft and smooth afterward, more so than regular conditioner.

Update

I don’t remember if I mentioned it, but I visited the bookstore again last Friday and bought some more books. I keep on spending so much money on books,  I have a book maniac-obsessive disorder. Yeah I’ve always collected books and loved to put new books on my shelves but never this greatly. The feeling comes and goes. I try to read at least once a day to make use of all the books I own. I plan on reading them all.

Lexi and Maya killed a squirrel yesterday morning. The poor thing, a fat squirrel though, was mauled to death. It thought it could escape, knowing it was quick and vicious, but obviously not aware that canines are quicker, bigger, and more vicious. Lexi and Maya took turns mauling it and putting it in their mouth. Poor thing, it was only trying to eat Mumsie’s Chinese apples growing in our backyard!

It’s raining really hard right now, thundering too. It has been like this for hours nonstop. The weather in Austin right now is probably humid and dandy, no storm.

Mario Kart online

I’m addicted to it. I play with other people worldwide (connected to the web) and it’s one round after another. I win and I lose. But it’s so addicting!

An interesting afternoon

I wake up really late in the afternoon nowadays, around 2pm. That’s because it’s become a habit for me to stay up till 4 in the morning. Anyhow, I got out of bed and Justin and I were out in the kitchen/living room eating. There was a knock on the door and my older sister opened. This white man, about in his late 30s, rode a bicycle up to my house. He fed my sister with this story:

1.He is our neighbor three houses down from the back.
2.On Tuesday night he saw a black guy standing on our front porch smoking, and knowing that the house we live in is not occupied by a black family, he threatened the black man that he would call the police. So he continued with his story saying that the black guy ran away when he was about to call the police.
3. He told about his story: nights earlier he had his car broken into, even his airbag was stolen.
4. This is why he is cautious and when he noticed a black guy on our front porch, he was alarmed.
5. Anyhow, somehow he got his car towed and it takes $60 to get it back, but he only has $40. Can he borrow/have $20 from us so he can get his car back? Keep in mind he came up to our house riding a bicycle to reinforce the idea that he doesn’t have his car.

So my sister goes into the house and relayed the story back to me, my mom, and Justin. We are like, don’t believe this crap. Tell him no, we’re not giving him any money and go away. Justin volunteered to do that. They went back out to the front door and asked for the man’s driver’s license. It said that he lives on a street called Scottsdale or something, which is no where near my street. How can he be our neighbor three doors down? He said he hasn’t got his driver’s license updated. HMMM.
Justin: We’re not giving you any money.
Man: Ok. Sorry I wasted Your time.
Justin: Ok.
And the man picked up his bicycle and rode away.
There were so many things wrong with his story. Firstly, why would a black guy be standing on our front porch? If he wanted to break in you’d think he wouldn’t idle around at the front smoking. Second, if there was a guy standing at the front, my dogs would have barked. The story he fabricated gave me the creeps though.

On a lighter note, my mom bought $500 worth of tupperware today. Well, tupperware would be the wrong word. She bought sets of BergHoff pots and pans. What a waste of money, in my opinion, but she does spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so maybe this is her pride and joy. The set includes knives, scissors, pots, pans, a WOK.

We own this set. The “azure.”

About 25 more books.. and turtles

So today we went to the bookstore again and I added about 25 more books to my collection. I got carried away, but I do plan on reading them all….

My parents were watching this tourist video tonight; the cameraman would take you through various parts of the country and introduce you to that country’s culture, music, art, food, etc. Well, there was a scene in the video where they showed how these people cooked live turtles. They had a boiling pot and put in the turtle while it was still alive! Then they added green onions and vegetables like no big deal. Of course the turtle struggled, I could see it in the boiling pot. Turtles are slow, how could they get out of something like that? It was boiled alive and in the end they took it out and put it on a plate (I’m serious) and served it. My parents were like, “They do that to hundreds of turtles a year..Probably more than hundreds.” It made me really upset. I won’t even mention what they do to live fish. Such acts of animal cruelty — these people will go to hell. How can they have the appetite to eat? And it’s all for money.